Manuel Ugarte was presented to the Manchester United supporters present at Old Trafford on Sunday but the Uruguay international was not in action on the field as the Red Devils slumped to a 3-0 Premier League defeat to Liverpool. Ugarte got his first taste of English soccer from the stands and although it was arguably a good thing for him to have been spared a run-out as the Reds ran riot at the Theatre of Dreams, the 23-year-old South American’s watching brief was brutal.
The former Paris Saint-Germain and Sporting CP man could only watch on as Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo endured a wretched afternoon in the midfield as Luis Diaz scored twice and Mohamed Salah added another when it could have been even worse as Trent Alexander-Arnold also had a goal ruled out. The Brazilian was at fault for both of Diaz’s goals with the ex-Real Madrid enforcer playing like a nervous rookie and making basic errors in a showing which Erik ten Hag mercifully ended after a single half in the latest illustration that the 32-year-old’s alarming drop-off in form might not be over.
As for Mainoo, the England international’s error was perhaps more forgivable given his young age as well as the fact that he has already shown that he is capable of much better, but it was disappointing nonetheless and will have already shown Ugarte much about his new midfield partners. Perhaps the most alarming contrast on the day was that between United boss Ten Hag and his Liverpool counterpart Arne Slot as the latter came out on top in the battle of the two Dutch tacticians in convincing fashion this weekend.
Slot is taking his time to get to know his new players and how the squad that he has inherited from Jurgen Klopp functions while resisting calls to immediately spend large sums of money while Ten Hag has been backed again in the transfer market yet is still throwing stuff at a wall hoping that it sticks. United have produced no end of sobering performances and results under Ten Hag yet this is perhaps the most damaging of them all so far given the players brought in this summer in what was supposed to be a fresh start at Old Trafford only for it to feel like a continuation of last year.
Ugarte will not be a solution to that on his own but he can form part of the remedy and the Uruguayan will be asked to add mettle to this midfield and fast because Casemiro’s rapid deterioration has been so alarming over these past 12 months. However, midfield is not United’s only weak area with defense also looking in disarray despite the additions of Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui over the summer and a handful of expected starters remain unavailable there including the injured Leny Yoro and Luke Shaw.
The Frenchman’s absence is particularly important as he looked set to quickly develop into an important piece for Ten Hag only to be knocked out of service rapidly after his arrival with an injury which will keep him out for some considerable time to come. Once United get Ugarte going and Yoro returns to action, not to mention Rasmus Hojlund in attack, then Ten Hag could have a different beast on his hands but the question now is whether or not the Dutchman is the right man to get that beast to rear its head.
On the evidence of this chastening home defeat to Liverpool, it is going to take more than Ugarte and possibly Yoro to fix this United mess and it is only a matter of time before the finger of blame turns towards Ten Hag given the time and finance he has been backed with. Southampton, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa away as well as Tottenham Hotspur at home already feel like critical fixtures for Ten Hag without even considering domestic and continental cup games like Barnsley, FC Twente and FC Porto.
Unless there is significant improvement by the October international break, the time may well arrive for the Red Devils and their manager to go their separate ways and for United to take a similar approach to Liverpool in opting for someone willing to work with the squad they inherit first.
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